Heat exchange structure



Aug. 14, 1962 w. G. KEMP 3,049,341

HEAT EXCHANGE STRUCTURE Filed July 26, 195'? OOOO oooo|oo MIMI lu l

INVENTOR.

WILLIAM G. KEMP BYWWW A ORNEYS United States Patent Ofiice 3,049,341Patented Aug. 14, 1962 3,049,341 HEAT EXCHANGE STRUCTURE William G.Kemp, 2275 E. Hammond Lake Drive, Pontiac, Mich. Filed July 26, 1957,Ser. No. 674,354 1 Claim. (Cl. 257-124) This invention relates toceiling or wall structure and refers more particularly to such astructure which incorporates a heat exchange system.

One object of the invention is to provide a ceiling or wall structureincluding heat exchange tubing which is exposed at the front side of thestructure for direct heat exchange relationship with the air.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wall or ceilingstructure as described in the preceding paragraph in which the heatexchange tubing extends between the ceiling or wall forming panels andcooperates with the latter to define the front surface of the structure.As a result of this construction, the tubing is in direct communicationwith the air at the front of the structure for maximum efiiciency, andthe tubing is designed to cooperate in defining the front surface of thewall or ceiling.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a wall or ceilingstructure comprising a plurality of panels and 'heat exchange tubing,having combined heat and sound insulating material extendingcontinuously over the rear side of the panels and tubing.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel connectionbetween the panels and tubing and a novel adjustable suspension for thetubing.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent as thedescription proceeds, especially when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing illustrating preferred embodiments of theinvention, wherein FIG. 1 is a bottom plan view of ceiling structureembodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the Ceiling structure with parts removedfor clarity.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the ceiling structure on an enlargedscale.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating a modification.

While the invention is illustrated herein as applied to ceilingstructure, it will be understood that it may also be applied to wallstructure or conceivably to floor structure if desired.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the ceiling structurecomprises a plurality of panels and heat exchange tubes 12. The panels10 will be seen in the bottom plan view of FIG. 1 to be genera-11yrectangular and as seen more particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3 to be in theform of pans. The pans 10 may be formed of sheet metal or any othersuitable material. In the present instance, the pans are formed of sheetmetal having a multiplicity of small holes or perforations foracoustical purposes. The pans have the rectangular bottom walls 14, theupright side walls 16 and the upright end walls 18.

The tubes 12 are generally rectangular in cross section and moreparticularly have the cross sectional configuration shown in FIG. 3throughout their entire lengths. The bottom surface 20 of each tube isflat and extends perpendicular to the opposite parallel sides 22 of thetubing. The closed central passage 24 through the tubing is adapted tocarry a suitable fluid medium such as water for heating or cooling airin heat exchange relation with the tubes. The tubes are adapted to beconnected to supply and return headers at opposite ends to afford asteady movement of the fluid medium through the tubes.

The panels are arranged in rows 26, and the panels of each row arearranged in sideby-side abutting relationship, that is, the uprightsides 16 of the adjacent panels in the same row abut one another. Thepanels in each row are separated from those in adjacent rows by thetubes 12 and the finished ceiling structure, as will appear more fullyhereinafter, is such that the bottom surfaces of the bottom walls 14 ofthe panels and the bottom surfaces 20 of the tubes lie in a common planedefining the front or bottom surface of the ceiling structure.

More in detail, it will be noted that the upright ends 18 of the panelsterminate in laterally outwardly directed flanges 28 which extendthroughout the lengths of these end walls. The flanges 28 extend intolongitudinal grooves 39 which are formed in opposite sides of each tubeand extend from one end to the other of the tubes. The flanges 28 aresupported by and within these grooves. Preferably the material fromwhich the panels are formed is sufficiently resilient to enable the endwalls to be flexed for the removal of the flanges 28 from the grooves.It will be seen, particularly in FIG. 3, that the end and side walls ofthe panels are not connected to each other to facilitate flexing the endwalls.

Each tube has a thickened top wall portion in which is formed alongitudinally extending groove 32 which extends from one end to theother of the tube. The groove 32 is undercut or of generally T shape toprovide the latteral extension 34. A suspension plate 36 is providedhaving a T-shaped head, the wings 38 of which are adapted to extend intothe extensions 34 of the groove to support the tubing. The plates 36 areof relatively small thickness compared with the width dimensionillustrated so that by merely rotating the plates, they may be detachedfrom the tubes. A second suspension plate 39 is also provided. The plate39 is adapted to be rigidly and firmly secured to a permanent part ofthe primary ceiling structure indicated at 40 in FIGURE 1.

The plates 36 and 39 are each formed with two registering rows of spacedapertures 42. The plates 36 and 39 are connected together by the nut andbolt assemblies 44 which extend through aligned holes 42 in the plates.It will be apparent that the height of the ceiling structure may bechanged by removing the nut and bolt assemblies 44 to vary the overlapbetween the plates and hence change the combined eifective length of theplates, and then again applying the nut and bolt assemblies 44 in a newset of aligned apertures.

Mats 46 of combined sound and heat insulating material are providedwhich extend across the pans 14 and continuously over the rear sides ofthe tubes. The width of the mats may aproximate the width of the pansbetween the side Walls 16. Wire grids 46 supported on the bottoms of thepans support the mats above the bottom of the pans and prevent them fromsagging between the tubes. The suspension plates 36 and 39 may bedisposed at intervals along the length of each tube between adjacentmats.

The tubing is formed of any suitable heat conductive material and theheat and sound insulating material 46 may be in the form of rock Wool orfibrous glass, for example. In any event, along the bottom of each padis secured a vapor barrier and heat reflector sheet 50 which may beformed of aluminum foil, for example.

FIG. 4 illustrates a modification. In place of the suspension plates 36and 39, wire clips 60 may be provided. Each wire clip is generallyU-shaped and is adapted to extend over a channel 62 of the permanent orprimary ceiling structure. The depending legs of the clip have laterallyextending terminal portions 64 which are adapted to extend into theextensions 34 of the undercut groove 32 in the tubing. The wire ispreferably of a resilient material to facilitate removing the terminalportions 64 from the undercut grooves of the tubing. Otherwise, thestructure may be exactly the same as that illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3.

Referring again to FIGURE 3, it will be noted that the heat insulatingmaterial, or more specifically the barrier sheet 50, cooperates with thetubing and with the rear sides of the panels to provide a plurality ofsubstantially closed air pockets 60'. The adjacent edges of the mats ofinsulating material, which meet in a line which extends along the jointbetween the side walls 16 of the panels, engage each other to close thepockets from one end of the tubing to the other. In other words, eachpocket 60' extends between a pair of adjacent tubes from one end of thetubes to the other.

In accordance with this construction, the panels are heated or cooled bythe air in the pockets which communicates both with the rear side of thepanels and with the tubing at the rear sides of the panels. The panelsare also heated by direct contact of the end walls thereof with thetubes. The bottoms of the panels are thus heated or cooled by the tubingboth by direct contact therewith and through the air pocket, and thebottom or front sides of the panels are in direct heat exchange relationwith the air at the front side of the ceiling structure, as are thetubes, to heat or cool the air at the front side.

What I claim as my invention is:

A wall or ceiling structure comprising a plurality of parallel spacedapart generally rectangular heat exchange tubes adapted to be secured tothe structural portion of a building or the like with the surface on oneside of each of the tubes being exposed, said surface beingsubstantially flat, that side of each tube opposite said one side havinga longitudinally extending groove adapted to cooperate with suspensionmeans therefor, the other sides of each tube being angularly disposed toand integrally connected to said one side and said opposite side, saidother sides of each tube having inwardly directed grooves extendinglongitudinally thereof intermediate said one side and said oppositeside, a plurality of panels of heat conductive material extendingbetween said heat exchange tubes, each of said panels being generallyU-shaped and having a substantially flat bottom portion, the ends ofeach of said panels being angularly disposed to said bottom, said endshaving tongue portions extending outwardly from said U-shaped panelsadapted to fit within the grooves in said other sides of adjacent tubesto support the panels on said tubes, said U-shaped panels being of suchsize that the bottoms of said panels supported by said tubes by saidtongue and groove structure are level with said surface of said tubesproducing with said tubes a continuous flat surface of flush panels andtubes, each of said ends being in parallel abutting relation to one ofsaid tubes, heat insulating material extending continuously over saidpanels and tubes, said insulating material resting on said tubes and inspaced relation to said bottom. portions, and means acting between saidinsulating material and panels to maintain them in spaced relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,101,952 Olsen Dec. 14, 1937 2,161,185 Mills June 6, 1939 2,221,001Lucius Nov. 12, 1940 2,339,565 Goldberg et al. Jan. 18, 1944 2,382,340Smith Aug. 14, 1945 2,469,963 Gros Jean et al May 10, 1949 2,480,427Stanton Aug. 30, 1949 2,598,279 McKibbin May 27, 1952 2,660,409Pittenger et al Nov. 24, 1953 2,662,743 Frenger Dec. 15, 1953 2,721,731Rapp Oct. 25, 1955 2,729,411 Cahill Jan. 3, 1956 2,729,431 Little Jan.3, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 293,380 Switzerland Dec. 16, 1953 486,034 ItalyOct. 27, 1953

